Chance for
Chopra, Ramesh to stake Test claimRajkot, October 1Opening batsman Akash Chopra of Delhi gets
yet another chance to stake his claim for the Indian Test squad as he along with
Sadagopan Ramesh will be watched very closely in the three-day cricket match
between visiting New Zealand and India-A which starts here from tomorrow.

Members of the India A team run during a practice session in Rajkot on Wednesday.
— PTI
photo

Fast bowling
can be unforgiving in India
NEW Zealand will miss the services of
Shane Bond and Chris Cairns in the upcoming Test series against India where fast
bowlers can still achieve a lot on unresponsive pitches. As it has always been,
the arrival of New Zealand is greeted with some routine speculation - how would
they cope against our spinners?

Aussies face
life ban for sledingSydney, October 1Australian cricketers would now face a life
ban for sledging under a new code of behaviour policy as the country’s cricket
board makes an effort to lift the game’s domestic and international image.

New D/L
method for more accuracyLondon, October 1Realising that Duckworth/Lewis method in
its original form could be "sometimes unrealistic", International
Cricket Council has decided to introduce its professional edition for all
one-day internationals starting with Pakistan and South Africa cricket series in
Lahore.

Tight
security
for first Pak-SA one-dayerLahore, October 1About 2,000 police will provide security
for the first one-day international cricket match of South Africa’s month long
tour of Pakistan which kicked off with a warm-up game today in this northern
city. “We have made elaborate arrangements for the visitors (South Africans)
and around 2,000 policemen will be on duty in and around the
stadium Friday,” Muhammad Ali, Assistant Superintendent of
Police, told The Associated Press.

South African bowler Jacques Kallis bowls to Lahore City Nazim XI batsman Naved Latif (not in picture) during the practice game
on Wednesday. The Lahore city Nazim team posted a competitive total of 250 for four in 50 overs against South Africa in a day-and-night practice match
at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
— Reuters

Announcement of
cash award questionedLudhiana, October 1The cash award of Rs 1 lakh announced for
the victorious Indian hockey team following its historic win over Pakistan in
the final of the Asia Cup has run into a controversy with Padma Shri Kartar
Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab questioning the authority of Mr Jagjit Puri in
making such a statement.

Competitors from different countries in 1000m men's Kayaking-4 semifinal competition at Upper
Lake in Bhopal on Wednesday. The four-day Asian Kayaking and Canoeing Championship commenced from today in which more than 15 countries are
participating. The team of Iran qualifies in semifinals standing
first.
— PTI

Ludhiana eves
in semisLudhiana, October 1The Punjab State Women Games being
organised by Punjab Sports Department got off to a colourful start at the Guru
Nanak Stadium here today. However, a controversial decision during the 100m
sprint left the participants a disappointed lot following which a three-member
technical committee constituted by the Director Sports, Punjab, to conduct the
race again.

Indian rowers
bag 3 silverChennai, October 1India bagged three silver and three bronze
medals in the 10th Asian Rowing Championship, which concluded at the Guangdong
international boat centre in the Southern province of Guangzhao in China on
September 28.

Celtic's Liam Miller (R) puts the ball past Olympique Lyon's Eric Deflandre to score during the Group A Champions League match at Celtic Park in Glasgow
on Tuesday. — Reuters

Southern Range
shine in HP Police meetNahan, October 1As many as 60 police personnel participated
in the one day state-level HP Police pistol shooting competition here today.
Southern-Police Range bagged the first position by acquiring 376 points, with
349 points Central range stood second, Central Unit was third with 320 points
while shooters of Northern Range could secure only 157 points and were fourth.

School cricket
meet from todayJalandhar, October 1The local MGN Educational Trust will
organise the fourth Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha Inter-State School Cricket
Tournament here from October 2 to 13. Addressing a press conference here today, the secretary of the Trust, Mr
Jarnail Singh Pasricha, said 16 teams of various schools of Punjab, Haryana,
Delhi and Chandigarh would participate in the tournament.

Hole-in-one
by 10-year-oldChandigarh, October 1
K. Raghav Bhandari, a 10-year-old golfer created history becoming the youngest
golfer on the Chandigarh Golf Club Course to score a Hole-in-One.

Rajkot, October 1
Opening batsman Akash Chopra of Delhi gets yet another chance to stake his claim for the Indian Test squad as he along with Sadagopan Ramesh will be watched very closely in the three-day cricket match between visiting New Zealand and India-A which starts here from tomorrow.

The Delhi youngster, who scored a
magnificent century in the rain-affected tour opener at Vishakhapatnam, gets yet another chance to catch the selectors’ eye ahead of the first Test match at Ahmedabad if he can manage a decent score here while Ramesh, who has had a long lay-off due to injury, will try and regain his Test opener’s slot.

The India-A team, led by Mohammed Kaif, had a good workout during the day. They have a number of exciting youngsters who will be watched keenly. Apart from Ramesh and Chopra they have Hemang Badani, a free stroking player from Tamil Nadu, Abhijit Kale of Maharashtra, Rohan Gavaskar of Bengal and not so young wicketkeeper batsman Deep Dasgupta apart from all rounder Connor Williams.

Their bowling too looks pretty balanced and the two spinners — left arm spinner Murali Kartik and off-spinner Sarandeep Singh — might prove a handfull for the Kiwi batsmen. Delhi’s Mithun Manhas is another player to watch.

Spin bowler Daniel Vettori of New Zealand covers his face to escape the heat during a practice session in
Rajkot
on Wednesday. — Reuters photo

With the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Secretary Niranjan Shah stressing that the wicket would help seamers as there is lot of grass on the wicket, it will be interesting to see how 20-year-old Munaf Patel, who is said to be very quick, performs.

Kerala speedster Sreesanth and R.P. Singh of Uttar Pradesh are the other two speedsters in the 14-member squad coached by former Indian Test star Sandeep Patil.

The visitors would be looking forward to some good batting practice for their batsmen, who never got a chance to bat in their tour opener at Visakhapatnam which was disrupted by rains.

Skipper Stephen Flemming and Nathan Astle are their two batting mainstay. They also have the dangerous Craig McMillan and the two youngsters Robbie Hart and Richard Jones backed by the two experienced all-rounders Scott Styris and Lou Vincent.

Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and off-spinner Paul Wiseman will have to bowl really well to trouble the India ‘A’ strong batting line-up.

Even without Shane Bond, the quickest among the New Zealand bowlers, and all-rounder Chris Cairns, their new ball bowlers are pretty impressive.

The destroyers of the hosts batting during India’s last tour to New Zealand, Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey, could cause a lot of problems to India ‘A’ batsmen if they get to bowl first on a green top.

However, the man to watch would be the young Michael Mason, who is said to be pretty quick. They also have Ian Butler for fast bowling option though he was not every impressive at Visakhapatnam. Mark Richardson is another youngster to watch.

NEW Zealand will miss the services of Shane Bond and Chris Cairns in the upcoming Test series against India where fast bowlers can still achieve a lot on unresponsive pitches.

As it has always been, the arrival of New Zealand is greeted with some routine speculation - how would they cope against our spinners? Will it be ours vs theirs batsmen? Will the visitors finally prevail in India?

Nobody stops to think if fast bowlers too merit a look. It is as if the men with the new red cherry are doomed from the outset.

You can’t fault them though. After all, whoever has won a school sack race when everyone else is running with free legs. Fast bowling could be similarly unforgiving in India. If you are lucky, pitches might aid seam some days. Most of the time, it doesn’t.

At times, new ball looks such a terrible waste. The wickets are placid, there is little bounce and it’s frustrating to see snicks don’t carry to wicketkeepers or slips. But as most things in life, if you are determined you will find your way.

That’s been my experience. There is a lot a fast bowler could still achieve even on such unresponsive pitches. A new ball might not be your best ally. But when it gets old, and if you possess a decent pace, the ball would scruff up on rough outfields and dusty pitches and start to reverse swing. It’s a great weapon to have on our pitches.

But this craft takes some learning. If you know the technique and have the pace, it can only be bowled if you are a 140k plus bowler - it will give you power over the batsmen.

Length is another key factor. On Indian pitches the key lies in keeping the batsmen on backfoot at all times. For it to happen, you need to bowl a little short of length.

Ours are not the kind of wickets where you pitch the ball up. If you can keep the length short and force batsman back on his feet, you have a chance to earn leg before shouts or rattle stumps. It doesn’t matter if the dying bounce is not carrying the snicks to slips.

With its gradual wear and growing unpredictable bounce, an Indian pitch could turn out to be quite useful to a fast bowler. Especially, on the third and fourth day. One only needs to keep the batsmen pinned on the backfoot.

It is also no less important for you to be careful with your attire and shoes. I learnt in due course if I wanted to avoid a footwear which has roughed up with constant use, I needed to carry four-five pair of shoes in my kit.

I like to be comfortable in a particular brand of shoes but am careful with its cushion and sole. It is also helpful if you get rid of your sweat-soaked shirt between long spells. A shower during a break could be extremely refreshing.

Unfortunately, these things are not learnt overnight.

Visiting teams in alien conditions take time to adjust and before they do so, the tour has drawn to a close.

There is extra strain placed on fast bowlers with too little gaps between the games. In one-dayers in particular, if you are travelling and the next one-dayer is scheduled in the next 48 hours, the tiredness could sap you of all energy.

Most fast bowlers tend to get tired towards the fag end of a long tour.

There is lesson in this for fast bowlers of both sides. But batsmen are so clever these days. They come well-prepared to the middle, having done their homework and dissection on a bowler’s technique on the video.

I remember a few batsmen having answers to most of the questions I could serve up. Somebody like Inzamam-ul-Haq has so much of time to play fast bowling. The same holds true for Saeed Anwar. But perhaps the best of them all was Aravinda de Silva.

The pocket-sized dynamo of Sri Lankan cricket was a superb player of reverse swing. He could watch it so early and was always in the right position to play his shots.

New Zealand’s batting will draw its inspiration from captain Stephen Fleming who has grown leaps and bounds in recent times.

His handling against Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka recently shows the left-hander would be the mainstay against our world class spinners. Having had a fair amount of success particularly against Fleming, I can still say he has shown courage and determination even on bowler-friendly wickets.

I can recall Fleming getting runs in the last one-dayer in Hamilton last season when he single-handedly steered New Zealand out of a tough corner.

New Zealand could have brightened its chances if they had the services of Shane Bond and Chris Cairns in its ranks for Test matches. Bond is a class act and would have come extremely handy. Cairns too is a kind of all-rounder who is a match-winner with both bat and
ball. — PTI

Sydney, October 1
Australian cricketers would now face a life ban for sledging under a new code of behaviour policy as the country’s cricket board makes an effort to lift the game’s domestic and international image.

Under the new policy, assault and racial and religious vilification are considered the most serious breaches and will be punishable by a ban of between five Test matches and/or 10 one-dayers and a life ban, a report in the Fox Sports website said today.

The Cricket Australia (CA) has revealed that pressure for the change came after the clash between Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan earlier this year.

Growing pressure from various quarters has led to the CA meeting with the national and state teams this week which addressed Australia’s leading cricketers on four specific areas: code of behaviour, racial and religious vilification, drugs and harassment.

Under the proposed code of behaviour for on-field misdemeanours, players can receive suspended ban of up to one multi-day match and/or two one-day matches for abusing cricket equipment or clothing, show dissent at an umpire’s decision, use obscene language, engage in excessive appealing, celebrate a dismissal before the decision has been given and point towards the pavilion in an aggressive manner upon the dismissal of a batsman.

If the cricketer engages in physical contact with other players or officials, charges towards the umpire when appealing and throws the ball near a player or official it could attract a fine equivalent to between 50 per cent full match fee and/or a ban of between one and two first-class matches and/or two and four one-day matches.

For using language or gestures that offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, a played could be banned for between two and four first-class matches and/or between four and eight one-day matches.
— PTI

London, October 1
Realising that Duckworth/Lewis method in its original form could be "sometimes unrealistic", International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to introduce its professional edition for all one-day internationals starting with Pakistan and South Africa cricket series in Lahore.

The D/L Professional Edition will ensure fairness to both teams in matches where the side batting first sets an exceptionally high total as Australia did in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 final setting India a target of 360 to win.

Frank Duckworth, one of the inventors of the method, said: "We have always been aware that when the total set by the team batting first is much greater than average that revised targets and par scores can sometimes seem unrealistic.

"This issue was drawn to wider public attention during the World Cup final when India could have achieved a shock victory," Duckworth was quoted as saying by SAPA news agency.

Although in this instance, the threat of abandonment never materialised, it helped prompt a move to the D/L Professional Edition.

"With this system a team aiming at a very high total has to score at much closer to the required rate for most of the chase. This means the tables have to be adjusted to suit the target," Lewis said.

This adjustment cannot be undertaken manually and so the Professional Edition is entirely computerised, a change that has been endorsed by the ICC's General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson.

The D/L method of target resetting has been used for all ODI cricket since May 1999 and is widely recognised as a fair way of dealing with interrupted matches.

The tables that are part of the D/L method are based on the average of scoring patterns over many matches.

The existing Standard Edition of D/L, which can be calculated manually, will still be available for domestic competitions and at grounds where computers are not available.
— PTI

Lahore, October 1
About 2,000 police will provide security for the first one-day international cricket match of South Africa’s monthlong tour of Pakistan which kicked off with a warm-up game today in this northern city.

“We have made elaborate arrangements for the visitors (South Africans) and around 2,000 policemen will be on duty in and around the stadium Friday,” Muhammad Ali, Assistant Superintendent of Police, told The Associated Press.

The Proteas are due to play one-dayers at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium against Pakistan on Friday and Sunday. Their tour was in danger of being cancelled because of security concerns, but is going ahead after Pakistan agreed to a South African request to change the venues of a few matches.

The tourists were playing a warm-up one-day game against Lahore City Nazim XI today. Police had cordoned off the fence and there were scores of policemen in the stands.

Ali said that on Friday, security will be even tighter, including about 150 elite police commandos keeping close watch for troublemakers, and other officers from three local stations deployed in each of the stadium’s 14 stands.
— AP

Ludhiana, October 1
The cash award of Rs 1 lakh announced for the victorious Indian hockey team following its historic win over Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup has run into a controversy with Padma Shri Kartar Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab questioning the authority of Mr Jagjit Puri in making such a statement.

In a signed statement, the Director on Wednesday took a strong notice of the news item carried by the newspapers on Monday in which Mr Jagjit Puri, on behalf of the Surjit Hockey Society, had announced the cash award. The cash prize is to be presented to the team at a felicitation function at Jalandhar on November 13.

Mr Kartar Singh said the Olympian Surjit Hockey Academy was started by the Punjab Government in 1991. It had produced a number of eminent hockey stars including Kamalpreet Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh and Jugraj Singh. Only the government or the authorised representative of the academy could make such a statement. He also clarified that nobody had any authority to collect donation for the said cause. Anybody doing so was liable to be prosecuted, he warned.

Ludhiana, October 1
The Punjab State Women Games being organised by Punjab Sports Department got off to a colourful start at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today. However, a controversial decision during the 100m sprint left the participants a disappointed lot following which a three-member technical committee constituted by the Director Sports, Punjab, to conduct the race again.

In the 100m race, Baljeet Kaur and Deepinder Kaur, both of Ludhiana and Mandeep Kaur from Amritsar ran a close
race. The judges gave their verdict but Mandeep contested the decision arguing that she finished ahead of Baljeet and Deepinder. The technical committee went through video film of the race but failed to arrive at any decision. After a marathon session, the committee members — Mr Sudesh Vaish, Deputy Director, Sports, Mr Harpal Sindh Sandhu and Mr D.S. Randhawa, District Sports Officers, Bathinda and Jalandhar, respectively, submitted its report and subsequently, the organisers resolved to conduct the event afresh.

In the 400m hurdles final, Baljeet Kaur of Ludhiana clocked 1:03.09 seconds to bag gold followed by Harpreet Kaur also of Ludhiana, who took 1:03.90 seconds to contend with the silver. Navdeep Kaur of Jalandhar with timings of 1:13.90 seconds finished at third spot.

In volleyball, hosts Ludhiana along with Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Amritsar advanced into the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, Jalandhar toiled hard to outstage Patiala 25-23, 25-27, 25-16 and 25-19. Hoshiarpur recorded an easy victory over Muktsar 25-10, 25-10 and 25-7. Ludhiana faced a little
resistance from Sangrur before emerging victorious 25-10, 25-3 and 25-12 while Amritsar defeated Gurdaspur 25-6, 25-7 and 25-11.

Earlier, Mr Sidharath Chattopadhya, DIG, Ludhiana Range inaugurated the games in which participants from all the seventeen districts were taking part. Before the formal inauguration, the teams participated in a colorful marchpast. The games torch was carried by international players namely Sharanjit Kaur (hockey), Deepinder Kaur (athletics), Kamaljeet Kaur (basketball), Deepmala (athletics), Aarti (judo), Baljit Kaur (athletics) and Surinder Kaur (athletics). Deepinder Kaur took the oath on behalf of the participants to play the games in the true spirits.

Chennai, October 1
India bagged three silver and three bronze medals in the 10th Asian Rowing Championship, which concluded at the Guangdong international boat centre in the Southern province of Guangzhao in China on September 28.

The pair of Krishnan Jenil/Inderpal Singh bagged the silver in the men’s coxless pair event. The two again teamed up with Praveen Kumar, Narayan Singh, Saji Thomas, Lal Roshan, Sunil Kakde, Paulose and Chakravarthy (coxwain) to win the men’s eight event, a press note from the Rowing Federation of India said here today.

In the men’s double scull event, Saji Thomas/Harish Chandra won the bronze medal. Kudrat Ali and Praveen Kumar won the bronze in the lightweight men’s
category, the release said.

The team of Lal Roshan, Praveen Kumar, Narayan Singh and Sunil Kadke won the lightweight men’s coxless four event.

Prior to this championship, a nine member team participated in the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championship at Milan and performed with distinction, the note said.
— PTI

Nahan, October 1
As many as 60 police personnel
participated in the one day state-level HP Police pistol shooting
competition here today.

Southern-Police Range (SR) bagged the first
position by acquiring 376 points, with 349 points Central range (CR)
stood second, Central Unit (UT) was third with 320 points while
shooters of Northern Range (NR) could secure only 157 points and were
fourth.

Top five shooters were selected for the All-India pistol
shooting competition. They are IPS R.M. Sharma, Central Range, Head
Constable Dharampal of Sirmour, HC Baljeet Singh of Central Unit), HC
Satmohan (Solan) Southern Range and HC Pawan Kumar (Kullu) of the
Central Range.

Head Constable Dharam Pal of Sirmour district was
declared the best shooter of the meet.

In squatting R.M. Sharma was
first while Baljeet Singh (CU) and Kashmir Singh (CR) were second and
third, respectively.

Jalandhar, October 1
The local MGN Educational Trust will organise the fourth Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha Inter-State School Cricket Tournament here from October 2 to 13.

Addressing a press conference here today, the secretary of the Trust, Mr Jarnail Singh Pasricha, said 16 teams of various schools of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh would participate in the tournament.

The matches will be played in the 25 overs format, except for the semifinal and final, which will be of 30 overs. The winners and runners up will get Rs 21000 and Rs 11000, respectively. The man of the series will get Rs 2100.

Chandigarh, October 1
K. Raghav Bhandari, a 10-year-old golfer created history becoming the youngest golfer on the Chandigarh Golf Club Course to score a Hole-in-One.

According to Mr IPS Doabia, Chairman, Media, Chandigarh Golf Club, on reaching the par-3 eighth hole Raghav Bhandari teed of using a number 4 iron for a distance of 152 yards from the tee off to the pin. After playing the shot, to the surprise and cheer of all the caddy shouted: “Hole-In-One Sahib”. Raghav Bhandari recently finished runner-up in the sub-junior tournament played in Delhi.

BRIEFLY

Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly at a Durga Puja pandal in
Kolkata on Wednesday. — PTI

Lords
honour for Flower, OlongaLONDON: Andy Flower and Henry Olonga have been made honorary life members of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in recognition of their World Cup protest against Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe duo wore black armbands during their country’s opening World Cup match in February, against Namibia in Harare, and issued a statement mourning the ‘death of democracy’ in Zimbabwe under Mugabe.

It was a move that effectively signalled the beginning of the end of both players’ international careers.

After the World Cup the pair arrived in England with batsman/wicket-keeper Flower playing county cricket for Essex and pace bowler Olonga turning out for celebrity club side Lashings.

In a statement, new MCC president Charles Fry said: “Both the Membership committee and the main MCC committee were unanimous in wanting to honour Andy Flower and Henry Olonga.”
— AFP

Cricket teamKAITHAL: A 16-member Kaithal district cricket team for the Haryana Inter-District Pataudi Trophy has been announced here on Wednesday. The secretary, Kaithal District Cricket Association, Mr Vijay Goel said that trials were conducted at the Victor Vikrant Cricket Academy Mundri, in which about 50 players from all over the district took part.

This team will play their match against Karnal at Karnal on October 14. This is conducted by the Haryana Cricket Association. The members of the team are: Naresh Saini, Mandeep, Sunil Lohan, Goldy, Manoj, Sumeet Seth, Sachin Verma, Chintoo Gaba, Vicky Malik, Kali, Parveen Saini, Vinod, Tarsem, Devender, Sunny, Naresh.
— OC

Tennis trialsAMRITSAR: The Punjab State Lawn Tennis Association (PSLTA) will conduct trials on October 17 at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Tennis Complex here to select boys and girls for the first national youth games 2003 being organised under the aegis of the Indian Olympic Association from January 4 to 11, 2004 at Bangalore. Only those players who were born on or after January 11, 1985, are eligible to participate.
— OSR

CBSE badmintonAMRITSAR: Nearly 500 players drawn from various schools of Punjab will take part in the third CBSE badminton tournament to be played from October 2 to 5 at DAV Public School here. Ms Suman Sharma, Arjuna awardee, in basketball, will inaugurate the tournament.
— OSR

CBSE volleyballPATIALA: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) volleyball tournament for both boys and girls will be held at the Guru Nanak Foundation Public school here from October 4 to 7.

More than 550 players from 35 schools spread over Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir are expected to take part in the four-day meet which will be inaugurated by the Regional Director of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) G.S. Anand.
— OSR